Our family's actual suitcases and backpacks lined up in the garage before a trip

Before You Go

Travel Gear
We Recommend

what actually earns a spot in our bags

The short version

This is the gear I actually point families toward when they ask what to pack. Nothing here is a guess. It is the stuff that holds up on a real trip with three kids and a dog, sorted by what it solves rather than dumped in one long list.

A quick note on how this page works: some of the links on this page are Amazon affiliate links, so Adventures We Seek may earn a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Nothing here is picked because of that. It’s picked because I’d hand it to a client.

Documents & Organization

Passports, boarding passes, the stuff that ends the whole trip if it goes missing. Starting the real list here.

Packing & Luggage

This is the stuff that actually gets used every trip, not just the first one. Downsizing a family of five and a dog into one bag each is not happening without real help.

Electronics & Chargers

Adapters, chargers, the plug situation across a dozen countries. This is what is actually going in the bag.

Work From Anywhere

Adam works from wherever we land. That is kind of the whole plan honestly, we are not waiting until retirement to go see the world. None of this works without decent gear though, a kitchen table in an Airbnb is not a desk unless you make it one.

Personal Care Appliances

These are the things that plug in. Adam and I both travel with our own small kit now instead of fighting over one outlet adapter, it is worth the extra pouch.

Travel Beauty & Bathroom

Selling the house means the bathroom cabinet is not coming with us. This is what earns a spot in the bag instead.

Travel-Sized Toiletries

The small stuff. Trial sizes and TSA-bag-friendly versions of things we would otherwise be buying twice, once at home and once when we run out three countries later.

Travel Comfort & Coffee

The small comforts that make the difference between surviving a travel day and actually being fine on the other end of it. Real coffee, water that gets drunk, quiet on a snoring night.

Jet Lag & Sleep

Five people and a dog crossing time zones is a lot. Some of this we figured out ourselves and some came from clients who told me what actually got their kids sleeping again.

Exercise & Fitness

Adam runs no matter where we are, jet lagged or not, and this is what actually makes it into the suitcase.

Travel Entertainment

Long train rides and slow travel days need something that is not a screen the whole time.

Kids’ Travel Gear

Headphones, neck pillows, the actual kid specific gear. The list finally has real picks on it.

Traveling with Poppy

Poppy is coming with us. A cavapoo does not stay behind for a year in Europe. Everything here earns its spot because we have already needed it, or we are about to.

I am building a full page just on traveling with Poppy, the actual logistics of flying and driving with a dog through Europe. When it is up it will link back here for her gear.

Cruise Essentials

We have at least one cruise on the plan and cruisers apparently have their own whole packing culture. This is what keeps coming up.

Travel Wardrobe

We are packing for one bag each, for a year, in every climate Europe throws at us. Nobody is bringing their whole closet.

Nicole’s Wardrobe

Tops

Bottoms

Dresses

BTFBM Business Casual Summer DressOne piece that works for a dinner out or a day of sightseeing without overthinking it.Shop on Amazon ↗

Swim

Outerwear

Shoes

Accessories